Park 2 (b): Gateway National Recreation Area Marathon, New York

6/7/12. Today we set out to see how many park areas we could visit in one day. We had the whole day set aside and left early in the morning for Staten Island to visit their part of Gateway National Recreation Area.

We arrived at Ford Wadsworth Vistor Center, excited that we found it easily. We parked and walked up to the Center to find it was closed. We had never even checked the operating hours - a rookie mistake for visiting National Parks!

Great Kills Park

Great Kills Beach

We were not deterred, however, and quickly found a map of the rest of the Staten Island unit online. We headed off for Great Kills Park and found a parking spot. We walked down along a path toward the water and discovered a beautiful beach - much like Sandy Hook, unsurprisingly. You can tell the geography of the Gateway areas is all similar. We spent a little time enjoying the beautiful spring day and then headed over to find the ranger station to get our cancellation stamp.

The ranger was in a meeting and there was a volunteer at the desk. He didn't know anything about the stamps so we explained them to him and asked him to check the desk drawers. He was delighted when he found the stamp and ink pad. This gave us a great opportunity to chat for a while.

Miller Field

Hangers at Miller Field

Miller Field Recreation Area

We headed north to Miller Field, another section of Gateway on Staten Island. Miller Field was an army airfield during 1919-1921. There were still some airfield buildings and runways so you could feel a bit of the history. Mostly, it has been converted into a lovely recreation area.

We stopped at the ranger station to find a volunteer at the desk who happily helped us with stamps. She recommended that we visit the quilt exhibit at Fort Wadsworth and that lead to a wonderful discussion about quilting, crafts, and craft materials. We must have stayed there chatting for at least 20 minutes - the highlight of our time at Miller Field! The best park of our park travels so far has been the people we've met.

Building at Fort Tilden

Jacob Riis Park Bathhouse

We left Staten Island and headed east over the Verrazano Bridge to Fort Tilden. We expected this to be similar to the fort at Sandy Hook, but there was very little to actual visit - just a few buildings. While we were driving around the fort, we ran into a ranger who offered to help us - turns out it was the same ranger who helped us last week at Floyd Bennett Field! He directed us to Riis Park.

Riis Park - Breezy Point

Satellite Photo of Riis Park and the Gateway Area in Brooklyn

We arrived at Riis Park, paid to park (a rarity in this area) and went to visit the Jacob Riis Park Bathhouse. We were fascinated with the construction of the building and imagining what it was like when it was built in the 1930's. We ran into some crazy ladies doing art projects for kids, and a wonderful ranger who spent a great deal of time explaining the history of the park and showing us the geographic changes over the years on a huge satellite image. Once again, our chat with the ranger was the best part of the visit! We also realized that we had already gotten this stamp for Breezy Point when we visited Floyd Bennett Field.

Catherine at the Boardwalk in front of Riis Park Bathhouse

Clock at Riis Park

Muriel at Riis Park Beach

We sat outside on the boardwalk in front of the bathhouse, enjoying the beach and perfect weather, eating some snacks, and studying the fascinating exterior of the building.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

Since there was still some time in the day, we headed northeast to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. After getting a special "permit" to visit the park, we studied the map and headed out for one of the trails. We walked and walked and walked, and finally noticed that we were still close to the highway, and not curving around the bay. We got out one of our dying phones and quickly checked Google maps to find that we were walking on the fire break and not one of the trails! We walked and walked and walked back, exhausted, and found the proper trail.

View of Salt Marshes at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

We walked out to the edge of the reserve and were treated to a beautiful view of Jamaica Bay. We were suprised by all the cacti growing along the trail. The birds were plentiful and the salt marsh was quite a unique habitat. We were glad our stamina held out long enough for us to experience this park.

We finally left the park and by this point we were starving. We stopped for something to eat along the highway and watched an MTA bus driver get in trouble for parking his bus on the street to grab a coffee at Dunkin Donuts! As the sun was setting, we headed back to New Jersey, thrilled to have experienced so much in one day!

Cacti along Path at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge